Dancing Queen

"Where is everybody?"

Miss Kim is looking around the room. It's full of a bunch of five and six year olds in leotards and she's not remarking on the pitiful attendance today. She has clearly lost their attention as they spin around in circles and dig their little fingers up their noses. We have a dance recital in a few weeks and our lovely, sweet teacher may have picked a lofty song choice for these kids. And as Simon always says, song choice can make or break you in this business.

Miss Kim calls out "Everyone to your green dot!" and the kids scramble to find their green piece of electrical tape stuck to the floor. Most manage to find a green dot. There are a few who want to know why some kids dots are bigger than others. "That's just the way it worked out." she says diplomatically. One girl can't find a dot at all. "Oh, we must be short one. Can you pretend there is a dot there?" Miss Kim is an optimist, for sure. Before the little darling can answer, she starts the music and gets the kids moving.

Splish splash I was taking a bath..
"Move those ahms kids, good!" Her Massachusetts accent slays me. I stifle a giggle.
..put my feet on the floor. Wrap my towel around me..
"Ok, turn around, backs to the audience!" The kids turn around and wiggle their little buns. "Now face forward!" My kid is still facing backwards.
Splish splash I jump back in the bath..
"Grab your pahtner and spin!" The spinning is their favorite part. They instantly spin each other out of control.

"Ok everyone! That was great." Miss Kim stops the music and tries to impart her wisdom on the tiny dancers. "We don't want to run in circles, we need to skip gently. We don't want any of our friends to get hurt, do we?"

"I have a teacher named Lindsey." My daughter tells her.
"That's nice, Lila. "
"And I have a cousin Lindsey"
"Really?"
"And my teacher Lindsey has a brother named Zachary."
"Oh?"
"And I have a cousin named Zachary."
"Well, nice."

"I have a cousin named Annie!" One of the other kids pipes up. Soon everyone is telling cousin names, dog names, and anything else they can come up with . Miss Kim shoots me a look. I just shrug and hide behind my Premier Magazine.

"Ok everyone! Let's play Miss Bunny!" The room erupts in squeals and everyone lines up. She has her control back with their favorite game. After a quick round of our kids pretending to be baby bunnies, she has them find their dots and try the routine again. It starts strong, but ends pretty dismally. They're just not that into it today. She heaps on the praise for their efforts and encourages them for next week.

"You guys are looking really good, I'm very impressed! Let's all try to make it to every practice from now on because we have a recital in a few weeks and we want to look good for our families, right?" That last bit was clearly meant for us parents. Miss Kim is as non-threatening as they come.

After some flower and butterfly stamps on everyone hands, we're headed home. I can't believe this woman does this two days a week, three classes each day and manages to get routines in there. I'm pretty sure that If I was in charge of the class, there would be a lot of interpretive dance going on. Which really means out of control spinning and nose picking. They're good at that.